Category: Blog

The best leaders I know are With-It kind of people. And not only in the usual sense that they’re up to speed and paying attention.

With-It leaders understand that important work is never done alone. Thus, they continually express an inclusive message of team effort, collaborative endeavor, collective action………..WITH-IT-ness.

Some important messages those With-It leaders send:

• “We” are always smarter than “I”
• Team effort is a force multiplier
• Each of us has a gift/talent to contribute, and is expected to do so
• All voices should be heard
• There are no bench-sitters, everyone is in the game
• Information is shared freely (there are no secrets)
• Connecting, collaborating, communicating WITH each other is a requirement

Every team seems to have at least one member intent upon being the Non-Solver, the one who identifies problems then sits back to let others try to figure out how to come up with solutions.

Some pretty smart leaders I know don’t let folks get away with such slackerishness.

Here are some of the strategies astute leaders use with the Non-Solver types:

• These wise leaders don’t let the Non-Solvers operate in secrecy. They force them to offer their complaints, issues, criticisms out in the open. They don’t get to “hide” from their observations/judgements. They’re forced to “own” them.
• They press the Non-Solvers to present possible solutions to the problems identified. This is usually done in the form of inquiry. Some questions oft used: What have you tried? How well did that work? What did you learn from that effort that will inform our next moves?
• They prescribe action steps for the Non-Solvers, with deadlines for completion and/or reporting of outcomes.

Causing others to think and act is a fundamental responsibility of leadership.

Some choose to engage in those causative acts through manipulation, others through influence.

Consider this continuum (with sum corollary descriptors):

Manipulation <<<<< —– >>>>> Influence

Reductionist <<<<< —————— >>>>> Holistic

Fixed Mindset <<<<< —– >>>>> Growth Mindset

Secretive <<<<< ————- >>>>> Full Disclosure

Exclusive <<<<< ——————— >>>>> Inclusive

Egotism <<<<< —————– >>>>> Stewardship

The motive of the agent is at play along every level. As is the anticipated number of “winners” and “losers.”

You can probably guess when end of that continuum I prefer.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Much has been written about the concept of Servant Leadership. Whole books. Many whole books, in fact.

Some of the most emulatable Servant Leaders I know demonstrate some very powerful common attributes:

• We Language – Their language is always inclusive and invitational. They rarely speak in terms of “I” or “They,” and almost always pepper conversations with “We” and “Our.”

• Seek Deeper Understanding – They seem perpetually in search of deeper understanding……of people, of contexts, of data, of conditions. That seeking is relentlessly grounded in the use of Good Questions + Powerful Listening.

• Relational – Those impactful leaders strive mightily to build bridges, not walls. They understand that Relationships are the fuel upon which positive outcomes run. They attend to those relationships with great care.

Some folks I know work intentionally, daily, relentlessly to get BETTER. Almost everyone I know that fits that description does so through a disciplined, continual LEARNING journey. They seem dedicated to making themselves better, in the interest of making our world better.

I know a few folks who seem equally dedicated to being BITTER. You likely know them, too, so I won’t go into details of what that looks/feels/sounds like.

I’ve noticed that BETTER attracts BETTER. Likewise, BITTER seems to attract BITTER.

Today, I think I’ll choose BETTER. (Come on in, the water’s fine………BETTER, actually.)

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Being stuck is a common experience. We get stuck as individuals, and we get stuck as organizations.

Getting unstuck is tricky business because it requires…

• Careful examination of how we got stuck in the first place (aka Reflection)
• Honest assessment of any assumptions that might have landed us in stuckedness
• Willingness to clarify direction and next steps out of stuckedness
• Forecasting opportunities and challenges to those next steps

Who has time for all that!?!

Many choose the perceived less painful path of simply remaining stuck. Others, however, choose the journey toward improvement and betterness.

Key to this process is the part about honestly assessing assumptions. Carefully exploring what assumptions got us in this mess — or are keeping us in this state of stuckedness — are critical in finding our way out of it.

AssumpXploration is key to getting unstuck.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Most organizations exist to accomplish something important. Most people who work in organizations want their organization to succeed (even if it’s for purely selfish purposes).

Two debilitating ailments commonly compromise organizational progress: Complacency and Inertia.

Complacency is the product of being satisfied with the current state. Organizations that fall “ill” in this regard lose (or never had) a focus on continuous improvement. We — the leaders — can do something about that.

Inertia frequently results when fear of change sets in. When doing nothing seems safer than doing something, we move into a organizational death spiral. We — the leaders — can do something about that.

While there are a lot of moving parts to the something(s) that we — the leaders — can do, the first and foremost is to communicate with absolute clarity the noble and worthy outcomes we seek as a team.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

Volumes have been written about what does and doesn’t make a good leader. To be sure, there are many moving parts to being an effective leader. And, constantly changing contexts do nothing but make the challenges more ominous.

Nothing inhibits our ability to lead effectively more than when we begin to let “getting stuff done” become more important than learning. 

When we stop growing — stop LEARNING — we have begun writing our own leadership obituaries.

Yeppers; it’s a choice we make. Daily.

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.

As leaders, we can create the conditions of our own demise.

Here are some of the pitfalls to avoid if we intend to truly make a difference:

• Become Disconnected – Losing focus on the most important things the we are trying to achieve.
• Stay in the Spotlight – Letting “it” become about us, rather than about what we are trying to achieve.
• Remain Mushy – Allowing meetings and work processes to become bogged down in the meaningless and minutae.
• Talk Too Much, Listen Too Little – Being enamored with our own voices (and thoughts).
• Fail to Notice – Disregarding and devaluing those doing the necessary work, up and down the food chain.

It’s a doom loop that guarantees failure and stagnation if we choose to engage in those practices.

Reminded of a mantra from my former life as an athletic coach: “We’d better be in the business of getting better everyday; our competitors most certainly are.”

*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.